Indonesia`s poor people reaches 31 million

Antara News, Sunday, October 3, 2010 18:41 WIB

Semarang, C Java (ANTARA News) - Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare Agung Laksono said that the number of poor people in Indonesia still reached 31 million.

"The number of Indonesian poor is five times the size of the Singapore population," the minister said at a function here on Sunday.

He said that efforts to lift them of the poor condition had to be made not only by the government but also by the people as a whole.

"We are challenged to empower the poor so that they would be freed from the poverty condition," Agung Laksono said.

He said that maximizing human resources that Indonesia possessed should be supported by all societal elements and people who had care for assisting the government in overcoming poverty.

In the meantime, Vice President Boediono had earlier said that poverty-related problems cannot be borne only by the government but all parties in the country should be involved in solving them, Vice President Boediono said.

"My idea of solving and tackling all kinds of poverty-related problems is by motivating all parties to synchronize their actions and activities in reducing poverty," he said in his keynote speech at the third International Conference of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on Wednesday in Jakarta.

He said one of the basic functions of the state was to eradicate poverty in tandem with other problems without neglecting other interests.

He said that a team representing the government and private sector has been tasked to accelerate the efforts to reduce the poverty rate, the coordination of which was adjusted with other programs and activities.

"This is a national team in which all programs have to be discussed and synchronized with a clear strategy and time to enable us to tackle poverty-related problems," Boediono said.

Boediono said that one of the government`s programs was to solve poverty problems, as it was also a National Programs of the Independent Communities Empowerment (PNPM) established at the time when this country was facing an economic crisis in 1997/1998.